U.S. Supreme Court

Photo: Prayer vigil held in 2015 by Iraqi Christians outside the ICE prison in San Diego’s Otay Mesa, where their family members were detained for prolonged periods.

March 4, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that immigrants and asylum seekers may be detained indefinitely without periodic bond hearings. The ruling applies even to people with permanent legal status.

August 4,2016 (Washington D.C.) — The U.S. Supreme Court has voted 5-3 to temporarily prevent a transgender student in Virginia from using the bathroom of his choice, until the high court decides whether to hear the case.

August 31, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Supreme Court today denied a request from a county clerk in Kentucky who sought to be excused from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her religious beliefs.

June 30, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday the lethal-injection drug midazolam does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment – clearing the way for states like Florida to resume using the drug in capital cases.

June 24, 2015 (Washington D.C.) -- Guests at hotels or motels can now rest a little easier. The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a Los Angeles law that allowed police to demand access to guest information at lodging establishments. It’s now up to each hotel or motel owner to decide whether to challenge such requests from law enforcement.

April 29, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – One year after a botched execution in Oklahoma left an inmate, Clayton Lockett, writing in pain for 43 minutes before dying of a heart attack after the execution was halted, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that energy companies accused of illegal manipulation of natural gas prices during California’s energy crisis 10 years ago can be sued under the state’s anti-trust laws.

Photo: Black lung disease, a condition caused by coal mining, was the topic of a radio ad by Public Citizen that promoted Murray Energy to sue, claiming rights until now reserved for people

November 27, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – An energy corporation is suing Public Citizen, a nonprofit citizens’ watchdog group, claiming that radio ads run by the group caused the company to suffer “mental anguish and emotional distress.”

September 8, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case threw out campaign finance restrictions and ruled that corporations, unions and other special interests can make virtually unlimited contributions to political campaigns. Critics have argued that this is bad for democracy, giving powerful special interests too much influence on elections.

July 30, 2014 (Sacramento)--California’s Legislature has voted to put an advisory measure on the November ballot asking the state’s voters whether they believe the Citizens’ United decision should be overturned.

April 2, 2014 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down limits on how much money an individual can donate overall during elections. By a 5-4 vote in the case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the court’s majority tossed out restrictions on how much a person can donate to political parties, political action committees or PACs, and candidates in any two-year period, though limits on how much one can give to any single candidate remain in place.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion, finding that the limits intruded on what he called a “citizen’s ability to exercise the most fundamental First Amendment activities.”

But Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to transparency in government and helping ordinary Americans have their voices heard, denounced the high court’s ruling as a “decision against democracy.”

February 24, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case that could determine whether or not the Environmental Protection Agency has the right to regulate greenhouse gas pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and chemical facilities.

Columnist's elation over marriage equality rulings is tempered by dismay over high court's ruling on Voting Rights Act

June 26, 2013 (San Diego)--The sun is shining this Wednesday, June 26 and it’s a beautiful, if rather hot, day in San Diego. I sent my husband Charles off to work this morning after we both got up early to watch MS-NBC broadcast news of the United States Supreme Court’s rulings on two cases involving the rights of same-sex couples to marry each other. It was a personal story to us because Charles and I are legally married.

September 24, 2012 (San Diego)--My trusted veteran sources tell me that we may soon know if Veterans for Common Sense v. Eric K. Shinseki, the historic lawsuit filed by veterans advocates against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) way back in 2007, will be heard by the Supreme Court.

March 25, 2012 (Sacramento)--California is well in stride to be the third state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in an attempt to influence elections. The California Assembly passed a resolution – by a 48-22 vote – calling for an amendment, sending the measure to the California Senate.

December 13, 2011 (San Diego)--Texas Governor Rick Perry made another major Senior Moment in a recent speech. Governor Perry said their were only eight judges on the US Supreme Court (The real total is nine!)

June 25, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- In a body blow to prosecutors trying to stop bankers and broker from fleecing their customers, the conservative US Supreme Court today invalidated the "Honest Services" clause.

The case sent Enron's Jeffrey Skilling's case back to the trial court. It did not, however, overturn his conviction. It did make it very much more diffcult to prosecute financial crooks.